November 3, 2012

ANSON â€” If the Tigers' 9-0 record doesn't convine you they are for real, take Forsan Head Coach Jason Phillips' word for it.

â€śAnson is a good football team on both sides of the ball,â€ť Phillips said of the Tigers, who defeated the Buffs 49-7 Friday night in Anson. â€śThey are real physical up front.â€ť

Forsan held a 7-6 lead headed into the second quarter after senior running back Brendan Roman scored a rushing touchdown, but Anson â€” who went 0-10 last year â€” pulled away from the Buffaloes by scoring 43 unanswered points through the remaining three quarters of play.

Though Phillips cited Anson's ability as part of the reason for such a lopsided defeat, he also admits his squad experienced a bit of a breakdown as well.

Forsan (5-4), still has a chance to break into the postseason with a win over the Winters Blizzards on Friday. Winters beat Haskell, forcing the Buffs into a must-win game to end the season to keep their playoff hopes alive.

â€śWinters is a young team, and they are a bit different than what we have seen so far,â€ť Phillips said of Winters' wishbone offensive scheme. â€śBut maybe that will be a good thing for us, to not be so spread out. I think if we go out there and play the way we are capable, we can beat them.â€ť

BIG LAKE â€” Coahoma (2-7) traveled to Big Lake to take on the Reagan County Owls (5-4) on Friday. It was a crucial game for the Bulldogs, as a win coupled with some good fortune as far as how other district teams fared may have opened up a playoff spot, despite the injuries and adversity Coahoma has faced throughout the season.

Unfortunately, as Head Coach Trey Gardner put it, â€śIt wasn't in the cards.â€ť CHS lost 21-12, eliminating the Dogs from playoff contention.
The Bulldogs found themselved in an early, 14-0 hole, but thanks to senior Tanner Ruiz, Coahoma put together two scoring drives, pulling to within two points heading into halftime.

The second half, however, was all Owls, as they managed to find the end zone once more, while Coahoma's offense sputtered.

The season may not have turned out the way Gardner and his team had hoped, but says the experience as a while may serve as a consolation to his players.

â€śIt was the same story,â€ť Gardner explained. â€śThe kids played hard for four quarters. We got started kind of slow, but they played hard until the tail end. The effort was definitely there. The senior set a pretty good example as far as what to do. Though it didn't help in the win column, the older kids may have learned more about themselves this season than they did in the season before when we had success. I can't fault the way the kids have played this year. Obviously, we would have liked to be in the playoffs.â€ť

Gardner is now focused on ending the season on a positive note in front of a home crowd as the Bulldogs welcome Alpine on Friday.

â€śWe are going to go out there and try to win,â€ť Gardner added. â€śWe want the seniors to look back and have something they can be proud of.â€ť